After the battle the goblins rested and took care of the injured. Gi Ji Arsil and his subordinates, however, did not rest.
As scouts, their battle began with the end of each battle. The harpies could not see in the night, so they had to scout during the day, while the goblins scouted in the night.
The scouts followed after Gowen’s army to the wide plains, then they checked the surroundings and observed the enemy.
Gowen’s army showed no signs of exhaustion. They quietly made camp and passed the night without leaving any openings.
They cut down the tall grass, built fences and moats, and then took turns keeping watch as they rested.
Most of Gowen’s army were fresh recruits, however, and they could not be satisfied unless they boasted of their achievements.
Because of that the camp was noisy at first, but when the wings of Werdna (Goddess of Darkness) came, even the fresh recruits couldn’t help but go quiet.
Gi Gu thought the human camp troublesome. Gi Ji Arsil shared his sentiments. After all, the humans had cut down the surrounding tall grasses.
Gi Gu and his subordinates might be able to blend with the darkness, but the patrolling soldiers carried torches with them.
Without the tall grasses, there would be no way for them to hide themselves.
“Annoying…” Gi Ji muttered to himself.
He was about to order the scouts back when he noticed a shadow crawling from the corner of his eyes.
The shadow that passed him was too slender for a goblin.
Gi Ji watched that shadow, but it didn’t seem to have noticed him, as it quickly stood up and headed for the hills.
“…”
Gi Ji quietly followed after the shadow. The black-clothed figure seemed to be a human.
Since the person-in-question was a human, there was no reason to hold back.
Gi Ji drew his dagger. To keep the light of the stars from reflecting off his blade, he kept it behind him as he quietly approached the human.
Then he lopped off the human’s head.
“…Gu.”
In one fell swoop, the human’s head was severed from his body. The black-clothed human could only utter a weak groan before falling to the ground.
When Gi Ji confirmed that the human was dead, he took off the man’s outfit.
He compared the outfit with the human, but seeing nothing of interest, he decided to go back to the hills, where the king was.
◆◇◆
The god of fire’s hour gradually passed. Soon the hour of the night god would come, and darkness would once again cover the world.
Atop the walls, where the western sun’s light fell, Yuan and his men stood vigil.
The howling beasts could be heard from the walls; they seemed to grow more numerous with each passing day. The beasts howling were not a mere 10 or 20, and the fact that they could hear them howling meant that they must be moving.
The western moat of the colonial city that faced the Forest of Darkness was already half-filled because of the goblins, but the other moats were still fine.
If the goblins were to attack, they would probably attack from the front (western wall). Of course, that didn’t mean they couldn’t attack elsewhere.
They have been attacking the same wall all this time, but the beasts seemed to be moving. What were the goblins scheming? Yuan grew anxious. It didn’t help that he knew the goblins wouldn’t attack carelessly.
Currently, the colonial city had 500 soldiers and 100 adventurers. In total, that was 600 soldiers. That was not actually sufficient to defend the entire colonial city.
Because of that they had no choice but to pick which ones to focus their forces on. Until now they’ve been defending the western wall, but…
“The beasts are moving to the south,” Yuan muttered to himself. “It could be a diversion, but they could also be changing targets.”
The western wall was closest to the forest, and only the east or west had a gate. The goblins would have to pick one of those if they were to attack.
At the very least, that’s what humans would do, but… These weren’t humans were they?
Just last night, they found out that the demihumans were fighting with the goblins. Those araneae demihumans easily climbed up the walls as if they were taking a stroll.
Fortunately, they were able to force them back with their bows, but with enemies like that, the south and north walls were no longer safe.
Still, only the western moat was filled. That was an important fact.
In any case, they had to endure until Gowen’s reinforcements came.
“We’ll focus on the western wall as we’ve done until now. As for the other walls, just keep doing your rounds!”
Soon… night came.
The hour of the monsters had come.
As Yuan rebuked himself for his cowardice, he called out to he guards. “We’ll repel them tonight as well! Victory shall be ours!”
The soldiers cheered.
The colonial city was a long way away from falling.
